First impressions are important II

The two young men hadn't heard the last sentence Senior Shi spoke towards Elena. Therefore they grew confused as a stone golem suddenly separated itself from the immortal being's legs. It was already a few dozen meters big, creating a small earthquake itself, as it crashed into the ground. Afterwards under the younger generation's disbelieving gazes, the golem dug out the crystals it had for eyes. The Ordur Gems began to shine in a bright light, as the rocks making up the golem's body dissolved into dense, yellowish immortal Qi, which was absorbed by those gems.

Elena once again praised her Sacred FateBody as she watched those gems fly towards her. She grabbed the yellowish crystals with trembling hands, as information appeared in her head immediately. She got to know that these gems could summon a stone golem to fight for her at all times. The young woman could only imagine what realm Senior Shir had reached, as he casually created a golem at the peak of the Spirit Realm, only one realm lower than her protector.

Elena wasn't this elated because of the golem's strength, but because it represented Senior Shi's acknowledgment. If she worked hard and followed her path, maybe she could get Senior Shi's help one day. With such a strong backer, she would be able to do many more things.

Bai Jingshen took this rare opportunity to let the emotion of jealousy cloud his mind for a moment. However, he didn't have much time and quickly regained his calmness, as Senior Shi spoke again:

"Since… you… belong together. I… will leave… you here. I… must go…now. We… will meet again."

The three young cultivators quickly bowed in thanks. All of them were happy when Senor Shi said they would meet again. The old Stone Golem nodded his head once, before putting down Bai Jingshen and Sam. The two young men backed up a bit while Elena landed behind them. With much curiosity they observed how Senior Shi would leave. Fortunately, the Stone Golem didn't disappoint them, as his huge Body rapidly turned to dust, only to be blown away in all directions.

Bai Jingshen cupped his fists one last time, before turning around and looking at his new boss. As an experienced veteran he couldn't help but become vigilant. Although Senior Shi was a huge intimidation to many, it wasn't unthinkable that Elena Thobar would ignore him and ask for their gains.

The young woman also observed the man her instincts told her to find. She was surprised as her body still sent her a strong signal of opportunity. She had thought meeting Senior Shi through her new recruits was already an amazing once-in-a-lifetime chance. However, her constitution clearly spoke to her that this Bai Jingshen was a huge opportunity himself. It took a few seconds until those signals vanished, but Elena was used to this happening, after all her body couldn't send her signals all the time.

After calming herself down again the young woman finally initiated a conversation:

"I can see your vigilance, but you don't need to worry. If I stole from my own people, I would surely find myself alone very soon. So, let me introduce myself. My name is Elena Senna Miral Thobar. I am the owner and CEO of Thobar Bionics. I hope I can convince you both of staying with our company. These are chaotic times and there is strength in numbers. Together I am sure we can be among the leaders in this crazy race to the top."

Bai Jingshen eyed his new boss for a second. His instincts told him that this woman didn't have any bad intentions. However, their situation was incredible delicate since they just completed the elven trials. If Elena knew of the fragment in his possession, she might quickly become greedy. As the former emperor was still analyzing the young woman, he smiled wryly since Sam answered almost immediately:

"H-Hello Miss Thobar. My name is Sam. I am a great fan of yours. It would be my honor to work together with you."

Since his friend already introduced himself, Bai Jingshen decided to give his new boss the benefit of the doubt for now. He took a light breath before he cupped his fists and answered as well:

"I am pleased to meet you, Miss Thobar. My name is Bai Jingshen. As long as I can advance on my path, I don't mind working together."

"Great. I hope I will prove worthy of your expectations.

Please excuse me for asking. I don't wont to pry into your business, but I hope you can tell me as much as possible about what happened here. I need to take appropriate actions."

This time Bai Jingshen felt gratified as Sam didn't start telling their Boss everything without thinking. His brother looked at him, clearly indicating for him to do the talking.

"Yes. Let me explain. As soon as we got here, Sam and me split from the group, since I didn't like their idea of sitting and waiting. We patiently hunted a beast and took its cave, leading to my breakthrough. Since our cultivations are still shallow we had to search for water after a while. We found a calm lake, but were attacked by a beast and only managed to escapee through a small hole in the cliffside. Fortunately for us it turned out we stumbled upon an old elven trial. We completed it and my brother was rewarded with a special constitution. Afterwards Senior Shi, the trial's guard, told us he had to leave now. This led to the scene you already saw."

The former emperor thought exactly about what he wanted to reveal. He included them hunting a beast and Sam's constitution to show of a bit of their worth. However, he didn't mention his crown, the World Tree, or the third trial. He figured those could potentially spell trouble.

The young men observed Elena for a while, while she quickly took in their information. Bai Jingshen's impression of the young woman improved, as she held her word and didn't ask anymore about their encounters. Instead, she changed the topic:

"I see. Congratulations to making it through your first secret realm right after your arrival. I will keep what you told me a secret. I also hope you can refrain from telling others about Senior Shi."

"Naturally. Oh right, can you explain more about the Stone Golems to us? You seem to have recognized them."

"I don't know much about them. As I said before, they are seen during their travels from time to time. A few people managed to talk to them, but they naturally wouldn't reveal important information. The term stone golems became public knowledge, however, and the fact that they guard elven springs. There are a lot of these springs all over the southern peninsula. Many cultivators try to find them for the trial rewards. Most of those rewards don't help higher-grade cultivators, however. Your special body constitution is definitely among the best I've ever heard."

While Elena was talking she slowly walked past the two young men towards the newly created lake. She gracefully bowed down and took some water into her hands. As soon as she drank a sip, her eyes visibly sparkled. She exclaimed with happiness in her voice:

"It really is Elven Spirit Water. So much of it!"

Suddenly she turned around and looked at Bai Jingshen and Sam for a second. The young men could only hear her quietly mutter:

"I'm sorry for this. We have to act fast."

Before the two young men knew it, Elena had already grabbed each of them on their arms before dragging them behind as she flew away. Sam was thrilled, as it was the first time he was flying without an vehicle. On the other hand, Bai Jingshen was silently complaining. Where was his dignity? How could the White Illusion Emperor be dragged around like this?

Although the former emperor complained, he already knew he had to change his mindset. Unfortunately, he wasn't the mighty emperor anymore. And to make matters worse, even if he still had his old cultivation, he wouldn't be a bigshot in this New World. After going through the elven trial, he already understood, that he had a long way to go. After the third trial however, he had finally steadied his mindset. He was determined to follow his path and surpass Senior Shi and even the Supreme Ruler one day.

Elena hurriedly advanced through the forest until the bracelet on her arm sent her a signal. She took a look and realized, that her protector was close by. She was confused however as she didn't see the old man. In the New World, and especially in complicated environments like the Sleeping Lake Forest the Rising Force World's bracelets had a hard time sending signals. This let to their importance dropping, as someone like Elena would already be able to communicate with others before her bracelet connected. Only in the vicinity of the important transmitters were bracelets still commonly used.

The young woman even knew that many states had tried to launch satellites for multiple purposes, however, all of them rained down as molten metal, as the nine suns clearly marked the sky as their territory. In fact, only the strongest cultivators could really travers the skies freely, while most had to be careful not to fly too high.

Therefore, Elena was confused about this situation where her bracelet found her protector, but she couldn't see him at all.